“That has not been how we’ve been winning this year,” head coach Mike Jones said with a smirk.

Junior Eddie Jamison was one of many Bolts to rise to the occasion, as he netted a career-best 25 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.

“He stepped up,” Jones said. Being the primary scorer’s “not usually (his role). … He really took it to another level today.”

“I just felt confident tonight,” Jamison added.

Jamison was thrust into that role because Lawrence, who averages 19.5 points per game, caught two fouls in the first quarter and didn’t see the floor again until the second half. He scored just four points, all on foul shots in the fourth quarter.

No matter. His teammates had his back.

John Green came up big on both ends as the 6-foot-6 junior had 13 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.

However, Green also got into foul trouble in the first half and had to sit. That forced Jones to go deep into his bench, but Millville (12-5) wasn’t deterred.

“Credit to our guys, other guys stepped up,” Jones said. “We had guys in foul trouble early and we had guys that came off the bench, played big, gave us big minutes and made some big baskets.”

Third quarter the difference

There were 10 lead changes from the 4:01 mark of the second quarter to the mid-point of the third, and when Campbell knotted it at 40-40, it appeared the game would go down to the wire.

But the Thunderbolts took command from there, scoring the final 11 points of the period to go up 51-40 entering the fourth.

Green had a huge effort in the third, scoring seven points and grabbing five boards, including four on the offensive glass.

“Coach talked to us and said somebody need to make a big play and I just thought I’d be that guy,” Green said.

Campbell erupts

While Millville never let the lead drop below six after that, Campbell made every effort to get Vineland (6-8) back in the game.

He scored his team’s final 22 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter.

“He came to play,” Vineland interim coach Will Baumgardner said.

Campbell did an excellent job of drawing contact throughout the evening, as he attempted a whopping 21 free throws, making 18.

“He’s a heck of a player,” Jones said. “I know he’s been playing real well lately and he had another huge game. They just kept feeding him the ball and he made some big shots, he got to the foul line and made his foul shots. Not really much you can say except I’m glad we’re not going to have to face him again this year.”

Positive strides

Though Vineland lost the game, it was the closest the Fighting Clan have been with Millville in more than two years. Their last three losses to the Bolts were by 23, 30 and 41 points.

“One of our better performances of the year in terms of energy and effort on the defensive end,” Baumgardner said. “We stuck to our game plan and it was working.”